Green Chile Turkey Quesadillas

I roasted a small turkey over the weekend. Winter's still clinging on here in Peoria so why not keep the oven going?

Now we have lots of leftover turkey. (Of course, you can easily sub leftover roasted chicken in this recipe.) I'll likely be making a batch of Cajun Turkey Jambalaya on Friday.

Last night, we had these quesadillas for dinner. I made them ahead and my boys warmed them up to eat while I headed out to a meeting. Nothing was left when I got home, so yay!

The recipe took about an hour from start to finish and made enough of two meals, so I froze 4 of the quesadillas. That's a win in my book.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Green Chile Turkey Quesadilla

2-3 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
1 10 ounce can green enchilada sauce
1 4 ounce can diced green chilies
8 large (10 inch) flour tortillas
3 to 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Cooking spray
For topping: salsa, sour cream, guacamole, sliced green onions

In a medium bowl, combine turkey, enchilada sauce and chilies. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spread pan with cooking spray. Place one tortilla in pan. Sprinkle cheese (scant 1/4 cup) on one half of tortilla. Top cheese with about 1/3 cup turkey mixture. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

(Note: I just eye balled the amounts of cheese and turkey mixture when I made these, so use an amount that seems best to you.)

Fold other half of tortilla over mixture and press down with a large spatula. Cook until cheese begins to melt, about 1 minute. Then flip quesadilla over to brown the other side, cooking for another minute.

Place on plate and cover to keep warm, or place on a baking sheet and hold in an oven warmed to 250 degrees.

Repeat process with remaining ingredients. You may need to lower the heat on the pan. You may also need to wipe out the pan once or twice to remove any blackened bits.

Serve warm with sour cream, salsa, guacamole and/or sliced green onions.

Our top Cinco de Mayo recipes

Need ideas for your Cinco de Mayo menu? We've got you covered from appetizers, to dinner to dessert.

We have a special affinity for Mexican flavors here at Hot Dinner Happy Home, which means there is no shortage of recipes.

Today we're serving up some of our most popular Latin-inspired dishes.

What does your family eat for Cinco De Mayo? We'd love to know!

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

P.S. Need more ideas? Simply type "taco" or "tortilla" or "enchilada" or "quesadilla" or "Mexican" into the search function in the upper left hand corner of this page to discover more recipes.

Taco Pie is easy, tasty and the perfect comfort food.

Tacos are fun and family friendly, especially when the kiddos get to build their own. Skip the packet and give DIY Taco Seasoning a try.

Amy's Guacamole is the perfect appetizer or topping for tacos — or any of the these dishes.

Crockpot Queso is a yummy way to honor Cinco de Mayo, especially as an appetizer.

Enchilada Casserole is spicy, cheesy and a great weeknight meal.

Don't forget dessert. These Cinnamon Crisps are a great way to end the meal.

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

It's corn season, and I love corn.

Every time I serve corn on the cob for dinner, I cook up an extra ear or two. There's a million ways to use up leftover corn, but I typically turn it into some kind of salad or vegetable dish.

This time, though, I mixed things up. I wanted fresh summer corn to be the star of our entree. So I stirred it together with some protein-packed black beans, topped it with creamy cheese, and loaded it into a crisp tortilla. These fresh Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas were served up in minutes and devoured even faster.

In case you're interested, here are a few more delicious ways to use up leftover corn:
Therese's Corn & Tomato Salad
California Chopped Salad (With tortilla chips as croutons!)
Quinoa with Corn and Black Beans
Corn and Edamame Summer Salad

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
Serves: 2-4 (Depends on how hungry you are.)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1 cup corn (This is about 1 ear of corn.)
1 cup black beans
Butter (optional)
2-4 flour tortillas
1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
Salsa and sour cream, for serving

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium. Add onion and saute until softened and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add corn and beans and cook for a couple minutes until everything is heated through. Remove filling to a bowl and wipe out skillet.

Add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the wiped-clean skillet over medium high heat. (If you want to keep things light, skip the butter.) Place one tortilla in the skillet and top it with a scoop of filling in a half-moon shape. (If you want to make two big quesadillas, use half of the filling in each. If you want thinner quesadillas, use a quarter of the filling in each.) Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese on top of the filling and fold over the tortilla so you have a tortilla sandwich of sorts. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown. Carefully flip the tortilla and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the second side is also golden brown.

Cut quesadilla into wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas

Sunday nights are always my least favorite day of the week. The wonderful, worry-free weekend is wrapping up, and I'm getting ready to head back to the rat race bright and early the next day. I shlump around the house and frown. It's really quite pathetic.

And did I mention that I usually go to the grocery store after work on Mondays? So in addition to my mournful mood, there is no food in the cupboards, and the fridge is bare.

Needless to say, I don't enjoy cooking dinner on Sunday nights. If I didn't have such a handsome and hungry husband to feed, I'd just eat ice cream and go to bed early.

So I whip up super simple meals on Sunday nights. Hot dinners that exercise my cooking creativity to the max. I was pretty pleased with both the deliciousness and ease of a recent Sunday supper.  I hope it's inspiration for you next time you can barely drag your sorry buns into the kitchen. Remember this, if I can do it on a Sunday night, anyone can.

Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas

Serves: 2

1/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 flour tortillas

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup shredded cheese (Although I didn't have any on hand, I bet Pepper Jack would be particularly delicious.)

Butter

Sour cream and salsa, for serving

With a fork, mash together black beans and chili powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread black bean mixture onto one tortilla.

Top with shredded cheese and the second tortilla. Butter the top and bottom tortillas like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. Heat a skillet over medium-high and add quesadilla to the pan. Cook for about 8 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the cheese is melted. Cut quesadilla into 6 wedges. Serve with lots of sour cream and salsa.

"Taco" Tomato Soup
Serves: 4

Campbell's tomato soup, made according to package directions

A handful of crushed Doritos (We used the throwback taco-flavored Doritos.)

Sprinkle crushed Doritos on top of tomato soup. Declare that it is Taco Tomato Soup, very different than regular, plain, old tomato soup, and that it is good.